


see me

by Nyxierose



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-28 02:23:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17174057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyxierose/pseuds/Nyxierose
Summary: Being the strong one is strange for Lucy.Or, some post-whatever emotional catharsis because these babes need it.





	see me

**Author's Note:**

> Set in the same quiet-domesticity bubble as most of my post-whatever ficlets in "warning sign", because I have a lot of thoughts about this AU'verse, but reading those is optional.

They've been here a year.

The words resonate through Lucy's head that July as she attempts, because she's bored and she can, to deep-clean as much of the house as possible. Somehow, she has survived an entire year in an undesirable climate and her first-ever year at a job where her connections mean absolutely nothing. Somehow, she and her partner have not driven each other crazy. They are still… she's not sure "in love" has ever been the word for it, but they are as functional as two people with their respective traumas can be and that feels like enough.

They've done a year together in this space, and a few months before that in a series of shitty hotel rooms, and a few _years_ before that as coworkers and unexpectedly close friends before they felt safe to act on their deeper feelings, and she just now feels like she's starting to understand him.

She gets it, she does. Someone like that - in an objective sense, if there are any human beings alive who share his complexities - does not let people in easily. And while she's had an ability to get under his skin since the moment she met him, vulnerabilities are another beast altogether.

Flynn is, at times, the most overwhelming person she's ever met. With hostilities stripped away and replaced with his version of affection - she can't help thinking that if reincarnation is any kind of a thing, the man has done some serious time as a guard dog - a whole new set of quirks and issues has come into play. He holds her almost too close at night, covering as much of her body with his own as he can so the bad things can't get her, even though they are safe now. He is, in general, just the slightest bit overprotective and a compulsive worrier in a way that should not be _possible_ for a man his age, except it is because every other good thing he's ever had has been painfully ripped away. He sleeps badly to begin with, and doesn't at all if it's storming. And he pretends, even better than she does, that everything is fine at all times.

Honestly, sometimes she wonders what their neighbors and her colleagues think of them. They haven't exactly gone out of their way to make friends, and it's an established fact they ended up here under sudden and secretive circumstances, and that's the kind of shit that makes normal people assume strange things, and-

Today, Lucy is apparently taking apart the vacuum cleaner because _somehow_ half a spool of thread got sucked in and now she gets to untangle the whole mess instead of attacking the rugs like she'd planned on. She has another week and a half before her obligations begin again in any form, and she's getting a little stir-crazy. Sitting on the floor of the spare bedroom with a tiny pair of scissors in hand, wondering how many threads she'll have to individually snip, is not her idea of a pleasant afternoon.

Somewhere else in the house, her partner is doing something likely as boring. The only good thing about this summer is they've been having more sex, in part because there's little else to do and in part because there's time to be caught up on. If she were a little less the other kind of frustrated, this would be the part of the afternoon where she'd find him and kiss him and see what happens. She has been productive enough already for one day, and if her mood was just a little different…

Hell, moods can change and she needs a break. Worth a shot.

She gets to her feet and dusts herself off, and in that moment feels a strange worry she's not enough. There's no cause for it as she shakes her hair out and redoes the messy bun she's decided is her default hairstyle now, no specific reason she thinks her lover might turn her away. She just _does_ , and that bothers her, and-

"Everything alright?"

Oh, she loves this man too much, the way he always seems to appear out of nowhere right as she decides she wants him. "I think that's a lost cause," she mutters, motioning towards the vacuum. "I'll fight it more tomorrow. I need to be more careful, I-"

"Things happen." Flynn's accent is stronger than usual, which means he's likely been day-drinking - an uncommon enough occurrence that Lucy isn't particularly bothered when it happens - which in turn sets off a whole other host of worries in her mind. "Not your fault."

"You did hear me swearing at it, right?"

He nods. They're still close enough to touch but _not_ , and that bothers her, and-

"What happened?"

Still quiet, he plays with the ring he still wears, and she knows. Lorena's birthday was sometime in summer, Lucy remembers that much, and-

"Oh."

So, probably not a good idea to yank him down and kiss him. Damn.

"And you didn't sleep last night," she murmurs, slowly coming up with an alternate plan. There have been thunderstorms the past two nights, and she sees now the weight of it on her partner's face and body. Yes, he needs her, but in a different form than she was considering.

"C'mon. We can…"

She doesn't explain, doesn't feel the need to. She knows he trusts her judgment, sometimes more than his own, and she knows he'll let her do what she will. The only times he's ever _stopped_ her were in life-or-death situations, and that was a different world than the one they now inhabit.

Here, trying to live normal lives, she reaches for his hand and leads him to their bedroom and knows they will both be alright.

She lets go as the door closes, lets go and lies down on the bed still fully clothed. This in itself is a sign - if she's in a different mood, if she wants to be undone, she'll at least take off some of her clothing. But right now she just wants to be held, to be an anchor, and her capris and t-shirt are comfortable enough for a catnap.

"I'm not doing any other projects today," she murmurs, beckoning him closer. "It's okay. I've got you."

Being the strong one is strange for Lucy. She's used to being the vulnerable mess, crying too much and having strange reactions to the tiniest things, and being taken care of because she is lucky enough to have a partner who is so damned good at it. But she supposes she's been a tether just as much, in that she _is_ something to take care of for a man who desperately needs such a project, and they've healed each other so much this past year, and-

Even after all they've been through, Flynn is still so gentle with her. He knows, more than anyone else ever has, that she's not anywhere near as breakable as she looks. Still, he maneuvers his body cautiously around hers. Not breakable so much as valuable, perhaps, and deserving of all his protective energy.

She won't push this. She knows how he gets when she asks questions about his past; it is easier, for both of them, to wait until he wants to talk. _If_ he wants to talk. Until then, she can offer safety in silence just as comfortably.

"I'm here," she murmurs, taking his hands in hers and tracing patterns. "I'm here. As long as you need me."

"Are you happy like this?"

It takes her a few moments to process what he's actually asking, and she's almost mad about it. How dare he… but oh, it is easier for her to forgive him than for him to forgive himself, and some wounds may never stop bleeding, and-

"Yes," she breathes. "You… you've waited out the bad nights with me, you followed me to the ass end of nowhere-"

"Because you offered," he counters. And because he had nowhere else to go, the unspoken implication is, and because his loyalties were set long before that question was asked.

"You could've said no. But you chose me. You're the first damn person who's chosen _me_ , consistently and unquestioningly. Do you not get how important that is to me?"

This is not a fight they ought to be having in this position, Lucy can't help thinking. Fully clothed but entwined atop a nest of blankets, midafternoon sun shining through the curtains she needs to replace because they're useless, and yet… there's a strange beauty to the situation, the same beauty that surrounds their entire relationship.

Like somehow, despite the blood and pain and chaos, they were always meant to find each other and end up perfectly domesticated.

"I know," he breathes after a while. "But I'm still not sure why."

"You see me," she replies. "And I see you. And that is enough."


End file.
